Wednesday, May 15, 2013

We Interrupt

We interrupt what? For starters, my vacation blog post in which I dump tons of photos here. That's on hold. Also, packing. OH MY GOD I SHOULD BE PACKING!!! We closed on our new house on April 29th (yea!), left for Florida a few days later (yea!), and are moving in in early June, and I feel like I have done NOTHING. I walked backed into the house after vacation and let out a sigh of overwhelmedness (that's a word now) after just looking around me and realizing that every single object in sight must be packed and moved. And God dammit, the children still expect to eat every day! The nerve. And like, play. And occasionally be read to. And have diapers changed. ETC. ETC. ETC.

So, I had every intention of really digging into the packing this week, except all of the above got interrupted because of LICE. It's officially lice week here. There's been an outbreak in Georgia's classroom, and they called to send her home Monday after discovering her head was infested. Then, in the yuppiest of all possible yuppie moves, I immediately, (and I do mean immediately), signed us all up for screenings and treatments at a pricey salon that does nothing but lice eradication. In theory our insurance may eventually pay for it, but even if not I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Bugs on heads creep me out beyond belief, and I just couldn't figure out how on earth I could methodically pick through Georgia's hair for hours without June and Waylon wreaking havoc in the meantime. Oh, and pick through my own hair, too, I should mention. Turns out that when kids get lice, 80% of the time their mothers do, too, and I landed squarely within that statistic. Ah, the indignities of motherhood. Plus, I am supposed to be PACKING! So despite the cost of going the professional route, I needed to minimize the time lost to dealing with lice this week, although I'm not sure whether this salon solution has really accomplished that or not. Thank God for Frances, who generously (and bravely, considering the circumstances, I might add) babysat June and Waylon while Georgia and I got treatments that ended up lasting 3 hours! Joe also swung by the salon but was declared lice-free. June went today and had only a few eggs discovered, which resulted in a full, albeit much shorter, treatment. Waylon thankfully was found to be in the clear.

In the grand scheme of things, lice week will not go down on the list of life's biggest problems, but right now? Pain in the ass! Joe is swamped and working late every night, which means I'm running out of gas generally speaking. I am starting to drown in laundry that is piling up, because our washer is so occupied with cleaning all of my and Georgia's bedding that according to protocol must be changed daily through Friday. I'm considering going to one of those drop-off laundromats where you pay by the pound to catch up on the rest of it. Is that crazy? Things are really out of hand. I couldn't keep up unless I started doing laundry around the clock.

So, that's what's up around here. Plus a parking ticket, a shark tooth, an injured toe, and a case of mystery hives, but I hate to complain. : ) Venting I'm great at, though. What's up with you?

P.S. Yes, this is so totally gross, but if you comment only to say "Gross!" then that is not helpful, and in fact, rather karmically risky. Besides, this is my PSA, because I've learned a lot about lice myths this week. There's really no good reason for stigmatizing it any more than say, getting a mosquito bite, and yet it is its stigma that helps lice spread, because people are embarrassed to tell school teachers when their kids have had it! I'm sure none of you would do that anyway, though.

Oh man, I feel your pain. Lice was rampant last year in Charlie's classroom, and both she and I got it. I also dropped a huge amount of cash at Hair Fairies, but it was well worth it...except that after all our careful work, Charlie got lice again because (and yes, I'm being very judgey now) not every parent in her class was so careful. I don't want to scare you, but lice went around and around until spring break and all the children vacated the building (and left each other alone). Good luck, and congrats on the house!

Ooooohhhhh Boy, what timing! Mia’s school had a lice epidemic this month too, though it seems to have been well contained. I had no idea that salons specialize in it. Her teacher was telling me about a spray at Walgreen’s that helps prevent it if you think you might be exposed? Not sure what it is, but I’m sure you’re an expert by now. I remember when it made the rounds at my house when I was little and it was a common topic of conversation. My mother of course handled it like any other day other than the massive amounts of laundry and combing, but I do remember some other parents FREAKING out. I thought everyone talked about nits over the dinner table, but I learned that wasn’t true. And I definitely remember the day at t-ball when I was wearing my batting helmet and I yelled to my Mom through the fence “maybe I shouldn’t wear this because of the lice.” You should have seen the horror on those faces.

Anyway, wish I could help you with the lice patrol. For some reason, bed bugs and fleas freak me out far more than lice. Keep those things away.

Waylon’s so cute! And congratulations on the new house – can’t wait to see more!

Oh that sucks. Like, if you were going to imagine a sucky scenario, I think that would be a good one. But, um, how about instead of hiring out your laundry, you hire out your laundry AND your packing AND get yourself a sitter to give you some time to get stuff done.

Oh man....frickin' lice. Well, you know I never got around to posting about it last November when we were infested. I was probably too busy combing out Elisa's hair every night for an hour and a half and doing laundry at the laundromat. Yeah, good times. But we have been lice-free since then so hopefully your turn to say the same is coming. I was kind of surprised in the end that it seemed like much more panic than it deserved. It took time and it wasn't fun giving her baths every night and combing out with lots of conditioner and the metal comb, but it worked. Oh, god...so many bugs.

And good luck with the packing and moving part. I'm excited to see this next installment!

Sorry for this nightmare, but I did bust out laughing when I read "It's Lice Week" - likes it's a national holiday for families with little kids. And then I felt really really bad about it when I read the details. And that the moms get it!!! Never knew that part.

And I would almost rather have lice that to have to pack up my entire house. That is a difficult and unpleasent job. Feeling for you...

this doesn't happen in most photos, but when he does his pouty face Waylon looks JUST LIKE THE GIRLS when they do their pouty faces. Which is a rare and wonderful thing for me to see as your blog reader. Thanks for sharing this part!